BMW 730d 2016 Review

BMW 730d
Road Test

The latest BMW 7 Series has arrived on Australian shores promising to deliver a new level of technology interwoven with an elite level of equipment and quality. In amongst the petrol sixes and V8 engines there is a single turbo-diesel on offer. It’s also the cheapest model in the range, albeit still headed beyond $220,000 (plus on-road costs). Does a diesel deliver what buyers expect from a 7 Series? And with all those toys to play with does anyone care anyway?

If you’re like me and try avoid reading user manuals for everything from a TV remote to a car then the BMW 7 Series is an experience you are probably not going to extract the full benefit from.

As the flagship model in the BMW line-up this thing is so laden with gadgetry and technology that the process of driving it down the road seems a secondary order of business.

But good news for the Luddites. Based on our week with this 730d is – even if you don’t master gesture control or the multi-view 3D camera or the autonomous functionality – the drive experience is first class.

This is the, ahem, entry-level model in the G11 (short wheelbase, albeit 3070mm long!) 7 Series range, which means you pay $217,500 (plus ORCs) for a 5079mm-long sedan powering its rear wheels via a drivetrain comprising a 190kW/560Nm 3.0-litre turbo-diesel engine an eight-speed automatic transmission.

Construction is in large gobs of carbon-fibre as well as the usual aluminium and high-strength steel, which means the 730d is a relatively lithe 1840kg for its size.

Combine that with ‘Driving Experience Control’ multi-mode adjustment of the drivetrain, air springs and dynamic dampers and electric-assist steering and you can go about your driving business in quiet economy, quiet plushness, quiet sportiness or quiet sportiness plus a bit more. Or you can tune in to the adaptive mode and pluck a bit of driving character from whichever mode you want.

Did I mention all that happens quietly?

So even if you are having a bit of a punt along in the 730d, the growl of the in-line six-cylinder engine is melodious yet distant, while the screech of the Bridgestone Potenzas around a tight corner is surely coming from another car. That’s the sort of quiet this car is.

In fact it’s got a great combination of attitude and refinement. Those luxurious adjustable leather front seats do a great job of holding you in place even if you crank on a bit of cornering speed.

And while you lose a little bit of ride comfort in the sportier modes and gain a bit of bump-thump, you do have a level of body control that is outstanding for a car of this size and weight. Bear in mind our test car came with optional electromechanical roll bars ($5500 Executive Drive Pro) and optional staggered 20-inch wheels and run-flat tyres, as opposed to standard 19s.

The one thing the 730d really can’t do is feel truly nimble. It sits in big and fast corners like it was carved from solid, but just isn’t quite as dextrous when it comes to the tight really stuff. That’s size and weight talking again.

Wind it all back a tad and this is one of the nicest cars you could possibly pick for a cruising drive or even the urban commute, offering low-speed steering that is light and co-operative. You’ll also get closer to that claimed 5.6L/100km fuel consumption rate with the aid of idle-stop technology and a grille flap that only opens when added cooling is required.

The real world average ended up at 7.3L/100km after some enthusiastic driving, which is darned impressive. That’s just one attribute of the new-generation direct-injection variable-geometry turbo-diesel engine. It’s smooth, strong and rushes forward without any real vestiges of lag. A high (for a diesel) 5500rpm redline gives you a good feel for its capability and flexibility. A 6.1sec 0-100km/h claim undersells its responsiveness in the real world.

Of course all this assumes you actually want to drive your 730d. If not, head for the back seat and sprawl in luxury, enjoying the pleasure of setting your own four-zone climate control ambience and the breeze wafting from lovely metal-framed vents in the B-pillar. All the functions you need to have access to are controlled wirelessly via what BMW calls Touch Command using a Samsung tablet mounted in the fold down armrest.

Back in the long boot, there’s 500 litres of room, something aided by the lack of a spare tyre. However, there’s no split-fold for the rear seat, only a load-through function.

If you want to take the intermediate step and share the driving with the car then the 7 Series is about as autonomous as you can currently get on Australian roads. Set the adaptive cruise control and makes sure the active steering function is working and it’s a hands-free cruise down the freeway – until the car tells you to put your hands back on the wheel of course.

The 730d also tells you which Driving Experience Control mode you’re in courtesy of the clever instrument panel, which can transform to show information relevant to economy, comfort or sport depending on where you’ve toggled. It’s clever, but not as clever as Audi’s latest generation all-encompassing masterpiece of an instrument panel.

Speaking of tech and controls and all that sort of stuff, there’s no doubt there’s some really interesting gadgetry in the 730d.

The obvious star attraction is the Gesture Control, which allows you to perform a limited number of functions like changing the volume of the audio or hanging up the phone by circling fingers and waving your hand about within the ‘strike zone’ of a sensor mounted on the bottom of the electrochromatic mirror.

Well, despite waving and twiddling like mad I got pretty much nowhere. All this was ‘achieved’ with the patient chief of BMW Australia’s product planning watching on. He then, of course, expertly did everything but cook up a pasta with a couple of points and a wave.

As my colleague Feann Torr points out in the accompanying video review of this car the Gesture Control has huge potential, but voice recognition works better at this stage. The touchscreen and even the traditional buttons and dials (of which there are still plenty) that comprise the once-loathed iDrive controller also still have their worth.

If you’re done with the ground-breaking gadgets then you’ll find plenty of traditional equipment included in the 730d. The airbag count includes front, front-side and curtain airbags. But no rear-side ’bags. There are plentiful digital driver assistants to help you steer, stop, park and avoid potential issues, automatic emergency call capability, two ISOFIX mountings for lucky kiddies in the back, a head-up display, a reversing camera and surround view camera.

A glass sunroof, adaptive LED headlights and foglights, ambient lighting, Nappa leather, auto soft-close doors, a key which displays fuel gauge and other handy info, heated and ventilated multi-adjustable seats, sat nav displayed on 10.25-inch split screen, Harmon/Kardon audio are also part of a seemingly never-ending list of gear.

But there are plentiful options too. Our car came equipped with enough extras to drive its MLP up to $232,500. That included $700 for tyre pressure monitoring and $2800 for a television. Those are both items that should be standard on a car like this … even if you never read the manual and figure out how they work.

2016 BMW 730d pricing and specifications:
Price: $217,500 (plus on-road costs)
Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder turbo-diesel
Output: 195kW/620Nm
Transmission: Eight-speed automatic
Fuel: 5.6L/100km (ADR combined)
CO2: 148g/km (ADR combined)
Safety Rating: N/A

Also consider:
Audi A8 (from $197,100)
Jaguar XJ (from $201,900)
Mercedes-Benz S-class (from $196,500)